Why You Can't Build Muscle With Calisthenics

here's my transformation after learning how  to work out like a bodyweight bodybuilder hey everyone Daniel Vadnal here for Fitness FAQs  here's five reasons why you're not building muscle with calisthenics doing only compound  calisthenics is flawed for building muscle I used to be a compound exercise Zealot when I  first started working out doing anything other than pull-ups push-ups dips and rows was seen as  a waste of time I was brought up in the early days of calisthenics thinking that comp

ounds are  all you need to build physique and strength after several years of following this compound  Dogma it was clear that I wasn't getting the arm growth I wanted it's impossible to exhaust all  of the muscles in our body equally in multi-joint movements with compound exercise there's always  going to be muscles which are fatigued before the rest resulting in good growth in some areas  and poor growth in others I found myself doing tons of pull-ups to grow my biceps tons of dips  to grow my

triceps I get exhausted from doing just compounds my back and chest look good but I  never never reached my muscle building potential elsewhere if you choose to do only color snacks  please isolate to bring up lagging body parts if you're struggling with arm size it's not  rocket science isolate doing bicep curls and tricep extensions will transform your physique  if you've only ever done compounds I found my arms getting bigger and bigger without too much  extra effort when isolating by doing

just a few sets of arm isolation this greater weekly volume  is guaranteed to make a difference it is possible to slate muscles using calisthenics with some  creativity with body weight bodybuilding keep in mind the core demands are greater CU you've  got to stabilize throughout the movement you'll need a pair of gymnastics rings to expand your  exercise variety when it comes to targeting specific muscles by adding isolation alongside  your compounds expect your physique to become well-rounded w

ith calisthenics body weight  exercise isn't optimal for building muscle long term the problem is with time most people  outgrow the exercises with their body weight alone just look at how the Jack guys in New York  train they're achieving Crazy physiques by just doing body weight exercises for tons of reps  granted they tend to do multiple hour workouts to get enough volume to exhaust their muscles the  insane pump is likely making them look bigger on camera which skews our standards this isn't

to say  you can't build muscle with High Reps it's just inefficient and miserable compared to moderate  reps the lactic acid which comes from a set of 30 push-ups feels disgusting these metabolic  byproducts impede your mental and physical drive to continue pushing to the Limit with 30 plus rep  sets most people don't enjoy training with High Reps and they're just not going to push themselves  hard enough also the average person doesn't have good enough cardio to handle High rep sets being  lim

ited by the lungs instead of the muscles when you can't breathe and get that painful lactic acid  most people give up before they should the science suggests when training with High Reps it becomes  even more important to train close to failure when doing say 30 plus reps intensity relative  to fail out especially for bodybuilding really matters now if you're leaving three plus reps on  body weight exercises the intensity relative to failure is poor that's the reason why you're not  building mus

cle with calisthenics if you don't want to spend all day doing reps just add weight  weighted car's thanks is the answer for building an incredible upper body here's how to effectively  overload the key compound body weight exercises you'll need a dip belt with plates or you can just  add weight to a backpack the vertical plane for pulling includes chinups and Pull-Ups for your  back and biceps the vertical plane for pushing includes dips and Pike push-ups for your chest  and shoulders the horiz

ontal plane consists of the inverted row and pushup to hit the pulling and  pushing muscles respectively these movements are comprehensive for targeting the entire upper body  with weighted Cal snacks thanks to going heavier you can now challenge yourself in the entire  bodybuilding rep range you can do sets of five by going heavier to build strength and muscle  simultaneously you can do the classic 8 to 15 reps with moderate weights for Max efficiency  the choice is yours the benefit of weighte

d Cal STS for bodybuilding is you're using full range of  motion and the intensity can be increased for life all that's left for you to do is to progress the  basics and stay the course hybrid training is when calisthenics and weights are combined in order  to reach your full genetic potential hit the gym to by using free weights cables and machines the  exercise options are endless you can effectively Target every single muscle in your body natural  razors for side delts is an example for shoul

ders incline bench press to Target the upper chest  for a bigger upper shelf deadlifts to overload our spinal Erectors for complete back Aesthetics  here's how to mix calisthenics and weights in your workout program do calisthenics for all your  compounds and weights for isolation a pull day would be front lever pull-ups inverted rows and  finishing with dumbbell curls this method works great because it adds size without impeding  your calisthenics recovery number two mix calisthenics and weight

s in every workout a push  day would be dips barbell overhead press incline bench press and push-ups by mixing calisthenics  and weights in one workout you're more able to evenly progress in both domains option three is  alternating between a calisthenics and a weights workout if you train up a body four times a week  two workouts are calisthenics only and the other two are weights only the advantage of this setup  is you can dedicate 100% of your focus to either calisthenics or weights you've a

lso got something  to look forward to two in the next workout lastly you can start with weights and finish with  calisthenics each workout a leg day would be hack squats rdl's [ __ ] squats and Nordic  hamstring curls starting with weights for Pure overload finishing with calisthenics because  just your body weight is going to be harder due to already lifting with the order of Weights  followed by K snakes you can get a huge stimulus relative to the fatigue by ending with body weight  exercises

for bodybuilding an explosive technique is not the best idea for building building muscle  people train explosively to make the movement efficient this aggressive technique maximizes  strength for those with performance goals if your goal is to increase 1 RM strength this makes sense  for recruiting the most motor units by using fast negatives and abusing the stretch reflex between  reps there's no question you'll be stronger as a result for people who want to build muscle as a  priority the dra

wback is increased injury risk fast speed and heavy weights for low reps invite  greater stress on the joints and tendons without careful over and listening to one's body when  going heavy many people find themselves constantly sore or dealing with injury using a strength  lifting technique when you want to build muscle is flawed here's how to fix it technique for building  muscle is about making each rep as difficult as possible by using a controlled Eccentric pausing  between reps and employin

g full ROM any exercise becomes harder this strict form should be  consistent across all your exercises optimizing the stimulus to fatigue ratio you're now getting  more Tang on the muscles and relying Less on momentum you're likely using a posture which makes  leverages worse positioning your body so that the exercise feels harder and actually less efficient  by making lighter weights feel heavy you'll get more bang for your buck for hypertrophy nobody  cares how heavy your Lifting for building

muscle your body doesn't even care technique and effort  relative to failure does matter the weight lifted is just a tool to challenge yourself in the 5  to 30ish rep range expect your performance to be much lower when using super strict bodybuilding  techniques compared to normal choosing a training technique in accordance with the goal of muscle  growth can't be highlighted enough look at how the best bodybuilders work out and apply that to  Cal's thanks instead of lifting heavy for the sake

of it find this sweet spot of difficulty where you  can experience a muscle pump and get a bit sought doing random workouts guarantees you won't build  muscle social media is to blame the temptation to do all these new exercises is hard to resist doing  something new is exciting it's fun and it gives us a huge surge of dopamine in the moment choosing  novelty is like junk food sticking to a routine is like healthy food we're trading short-term  pleasure with novelty over long-term progress with

routine the idea of muscle Confusion by changing  exercises all the time is outdated getting sore muscles from a new exercise doesn't mean your  workouts are productive for muscle growth it pains me to see consistent hardworking people short  change their results with constant variety the truth is most people can't stick to a workout  routine because they lack discipline it takes restraint to avoid distraction self-awareness to  delay gratification and clear goal setting to stay the course Progr

essive overload is the answer  for building muscle with Cal thanks by having a workout routine that you follow for 6 to 12 weeks  you leave room to make real progress keeping a workout log is the biggest muscle building hack by  having objective numbers facts about your workouts you are given something real to beat in the next  workout by writing down your exact sets reps and weights for each workout I guarantee you'll build  more muscle it doesn't matter if you track your workouts on a phone ap

p or write it down on paper  old school just do it accountability of effort is built in with a workout log it's the best way to  coach yourself to success when a workout log is used correctly you're more likely to train at  the correct dose and intensity to build muscle you're able to do a little more than last time  and are motivated by seeing the upward trend of improvements in your workouts whenever I'm too  lazy to keep a workout log there's a few problems which occur I stay in the comfort z

one and get  complacent my workouts look the exact same and my results do too there can be less of an Impulse  to push the comfort zone if we're vague about what we've done previously problem two is the novelty  trap I spoke about earlier I start doing random workouts and exercises because I can't put my  progress in perspective with a workout log I avoid distraction and get more enjoyment from trying to  improve the same exercises training intuitively doesn't work for everyone if you're a mania

c like  me you'll just keep going and going until failure this mental model gives us peace of mind when it's  not clear exactly what we did last workout failure is a foolproof way to know there's been enough  effort to grow but it comes at a cost there's no way you can consistently improve workout  after workout for 6 to 12 weeks by going balls to the wall all the time keeping a workout is a  non-negotiable if you're serious about building muscle being calculated with small progress  over time i

s the best approach workout logs allow people who under or overdo things to train  optimally this allows you to hit The Sweet Spot of volume and intensity over the course of your  workout phase time must be respected if you want to build muscle it's not one hard workout that  matters rather slow and steady gains over months is what creates change if your workout consists of  mainly straight arm isometric exercises this is a problem for hypertrophy isometrics are designed  for specific strength i

n calisthenics being able to hold the body horizontal Against Gravity  the science is clear mid-range isometrics are ineffective for building muscle we just have to  look at the body type of your average calisthenics specialist in Statics phenomenal performance with  holds but often lacking muscle size we have to remember the goal of straight arm isometrics it's  to get stronger in the exact excise he the excise science principle specificity applies isometrics  strengthen the range held and have

negligible impacts on physique basically you'll get a nice  front lever or planche when doing mid-range isometrics but don't expect to become bodybuilder  big instead do Cal snakes through a full range of motion I'm someone who wants to build muscle  and master calisthenics I understand full range of motion is where the magic happens therefore  when doing straight arm excises I just make them bodybuilder friendly make sure that you're doing  five reps or more when training straight arm color sn

akes through full ROM be sure to train with a  high intensity leaving only a few reps in the tank every set ensures you're working hard enough to  grow the muscle damage from the Ecentric negative should be emphasized if you want to build muscle  mass with calisthenic skills milk that lowering phase like your life depends on it by just doing  your negative slower the physique changes will be night and day with Caln training full range  of motion calisthenics skills is more fun in my opinion havi

ng movement in the mix is an enjoyable  way to train calisthenics while also gaining mass you won't be setting World Records in static  holds but you'll get more size and some strength in closing the most important principles for  building muscle with calisthenics include weighted calisthenics to make body weight exercises  harder while also mixing in weights at the gym use a full range of motion with bodybuilding  tempo for a better stimulus on the muscles with less fatigue Progressive overload

is a must for  getting bigger keep a workout log so that you're actually increasing reps and weight lifted over  time including compound and isolation exercises is the best for getting a complete physique from head  to toe by following today's video you can build muscle with calisthenics don't forget your calorie  Surplus and sleeping like a baby see you next time